Nutrition and Health

by Teresa Seputis

You might be wondering why a school on supernatural healing prayer is suddenly studying nutrition and healthy eating. The two may seem at odds to you because one is a natural way to work towards health and the other is a supernatural way. But the truth is that God heals naturally as well as supernaturally. God designed and created our bodies to be self- healing. He gave us an auto-immune system to resist and fight off germs and bacteria. He gave us the ability to heal when our skin is cut or torn. He gave us the ability to mend broken bones and to diffuse and clear away small infections. God had healing in mind when He created us, He designed our physical bodies with an innate ability to automatically repair itself and stay healthy.

And God has been interested in our eating from the earliest days of the law. He gave certain eating requirements in the law to protect people's health. For instance, pork has some unhealthy micro organisms in them that can cause serious health problems. That is why it is important to cook pork thoroughly to assure you have killed these micro organisms. They were not all that good at thoroughly cooking meat in ancient times, and that is probably why God made certain foods (like pork) unclean.. to protect His people's health.

The bible tells us that our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit and that we are priests before God (Rev 1:6). Part of the priest's duties were to keep the temple grounds clean and in good condition, to keep the lanterns lit, etc. Just as God expected the priests to take good care of the physical temple, He expects us to take good care of the temple of the Holy Spirit. 1 Cor 6:19-20 puts it this way, "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body." The passage is talking about abstaining from sexual immorality. But I believe that God also expects us to take physically good care of our physical bodies so that we can serve Him well.

God spent a long time training us, building His character in us, depositing and developing spiritual gifts in us .. all so that we can be used to work with Him in doing kingdom purposes. He wants us to take care of ourselves physically, to be good stewards of our health, so that we can serve Him for a long time. 1 Cor 4:1-2 says that we are "... servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful." God wants us to be faithful with the bodies He has given us. He wants us to take good care of them so we can use them to serve Him. Yes, He can heal us from sickness, but He doesn't want us intentionally making ourselves sick from improper eating and health practices.

Proper eating is a very important part of being good stewards of the Holy Spirit's temple that each of us lives in. So we will spend the next few lessons looking at nutrition and healthy eating and how to cooperate with God in our healing through our diet.

What is Healthy Eating?

When I was a little girl they had the four food groups and we were supposed to eat food from each group each day. And then somewhere in there they changed it to the food pyramid. I never really understood what the food pyramid was until I took some diet and nutrition classes at a clinic. I understood the general concept -- they wanted us to eat tiny amounts of fats, oils and sugars, small amounts of milk and meat products, moderate amounts of fruits and vegetables and substantial amounts of complex carbohydrates, like whole grain breads, cereals, pastas. But there were complexities that I did not realize, such as what they considered a serving. For instance, they count one ounce of cereal as a serving, but most of us would pour two to three ounces of cereal into a bowl and think we were just having one serving when we were really having two to three servings. The typical serving of spaghetti that most of us have is really three to four food pyramid servings. And many of us will have six to eight ounces of meat and think we have had one serving of meat (such as a "not so large steak" or what feels like a moderate sized serving of turkey). We don't realize that the food pyramid counts that "one serving" as several. Because of this, a lot of people who think they are following the food pyramid are really not getting the nutritional balance they are hoping for, because they don't understand the serving size and don't eat things in the proper ratio. Here are the serving sizes and number of servings that the fool pyramid recommends:

MILK, YOGURT, AND CHEESE (2-3 servings per day). A serving is:
1 cup of milk or yogurt or
1 1/2 ounces of natural cheese or
2 ounces of processed cheese
MEAT, POULTRY, FISH, DRY BEANS, EGGS & NUTS (2-3 servings per day). A serving is:
2.5-3 ounces of cooked lean meat, poultry, or fish or
1-1.5 cups of cooked beans, or
2-3 eggs or
5-6 tablespoons of peanut butter.
VEGETABLE (3-5 servings per day). A serving is:
1 cup of raw leafy vegetables or
1/2 cup of other vegetables, cooked or chopped raw or
3/4 cup of vegetable juice
FRUIT (2-4 servings per day). A serving is:
1 medium apple, banana, orange or moderate sized piece of fruit or
1 melon wedge or
1/2 cup of chopped, cooked, or canned fruit or
3/4 cup of fruit juice or
1/4 cup of dried fruit
BREAD, CEREAL, RICE & PASTA (6-11 servings per day). A serving is:
1 slice of bread or
1 ounce of ready-to-eat cereal or
1/2 cup of cooked cereal, rice, or pasta

The concept of healthy eating turned out to be much more complex than I expected it to be, and I found out that I really did not have a clue of how to eat healthy in this day/age.

I still do not claim to be an expert in nutrition -- far from it. But I have learned a few things to survive, and I would like to pass those on to you so that you have a few tools and concepts of how to be a good steward of your body, the temple of the Holy Spirit. These are also things you might want to pass on to those who you pray with for physical healing, so they can be good stewards as well.

Some Eating Makes Us Sick

It is no surprise or mystery that we need to watch certain types of foods in order to stay healthy. Your doctor has probably already given you a lecture on cutting back on fatty foods and cholesterols. That is because of the physiology of the body. The way our system gets its oxygen and nutrients is to break them into tiny elements in the blood and the blood circulates them through our system. Obviously the heart pumps the blood through our system. But our arteries also play a role in this. Arteries carry blood with nutrients from the heart to the rest of the body and eventually branch into a network of capillaries that distribute the blood to all of the cells in your body. These blood vessels have a certain amount of flexibility or elasticity that helps the blood keep circulating when it gets a long way from the heart.

Too many oils, cholesterols and fatty foods are not good for our circulatory system because they cause two problems. First, they can sort of gather or collect on the blood vessels, sort of like rust on a pipe. This takes up space and restricts the flow of blood through the system, making it harder for your heart and body to get the oxygen and nutrients to all the parts of the body that need them. Second, these foods can make the arteries, veins and capillaries less flexible, so that they don't assist the heart in pumping blood through the body.. making the heart have to work harder.. and that can lead to heart problems.

Unfortunately, the things that seem to taste best to most people have a lot of the stuff in them that harms the circulatory system, leading to problems like heart disease and high blood pressure. This includes good tasting things like sour cream, salad dressings, butter and margarine, creamy sauces, potato chips, fatty meats, cheeses, chocolates, etc.

Sugar is a good thing in it's natural form, such as in an apple or in a bunch of grapes. But refined sugar is not all that good for us. If we eat too much refined sugar, the brain will send a message to the pancreas to secrete insulin. The insulin collects the sugar from the blood and stores it in the body as fat. And as the insulin clears the sugar out of our blood, we can get tired, weak, irritable and moody -- it effects us physically and emotionally. Eating a little sugar gives you more energy and you may feel a "rush" or a "high." But eating too much sugar will end up making you feel weak and tired about 45 minutes afterwards. And doing that repeatedly can also put a strain on your pancreas so that it becomes unable to produce insulin. We call that "diet induced diabetes" and it is definitely not a good thing.

Improper diet can cause a lot of different health related problems. Too much salt can raise your blood pressure. Not drinking enough water can lead to kidney problems. Potassium deficiencies can lead to muscle problems (and our heart is a muscle). Calcium deficiency can lead to bone problems. If we have inadequate levels of the B vitamins, we won't be able to manage stress in a healthy way. Insufficient levels of magnesium can cause heart palpitations. Obesity leads to a large collection of health related problems. And some nutritionalists tell us that eating certain foods and related products can lead to an increased risk of cancer.

Health and Healing

So many of us poison our bodies through unhealthy eating habits and don't even realize it. Then we wonder why we get sick. We cry out to God to heal us when we are sick. But as soon as He heals us, we go right back to whatever patterns we were in that made us sick in the first place.

When God gave the promised land to the Children of Israel, He sent them in to fight to possess the land. He was the One who gave it to them, but He had a role for them to play in the process. They had to fight to possess their promised land. God did not hand it to them on a silver platter, He did not make the occupants of the land just move away or disappear. He had a part for His people to do in receiving their destiny, in possessing their promised land.

God does not change. We know that from Malachi 3:6, which says, "For I am the LORD, I do not change," and from Hebrews 13:8 that says, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever." So if the children of Israel had to do their part to inherit God's promises, and if God doesn't change, it stands to reason that God expects us to have a part to play in our health and healing as well. We know that faith is important in healing. But I believe that another part of receiving and maintaining healing is to change the wrong or unhealthy behaviors that contributed to the problem in the first place.

If God heals us, we need to eat right to keep from falling back into whatever physical problems that were caused by bad eating habits. In some cases, God will require us to change our bad eating practices to healthy ones before He heals us. God will always supply the supernatural part of divine healing. But He will give us a role to play in that process and often that role will involve changing the unhealthy practices that made us sick in the first place.


Diet and High Blood Pressure

A lot of people have high blood pressure and look to the Lord for healing in this area. God can and does heal high blood pressure. But we need to "do our part" in the healing and also in maintaining the healing. High blood pressure, or hypertension, can be controlled to a large degree by diet. And diet can be important in helping prevent high blood pressure. So God expects us to do our part in the healing process by adjusting our eating habits to stop causing high blood pressure. If you pray for someone and they are healed of high blood pressure and remain in their old life style and old eating habits, it is just a matter of time until it comes back again.

It might be a good idea to pass dietary guidelines on to those you pray for. For some, it will be a matter of cooperating with God to change their eating behavior as part of the healing process. For others, there will be an instantaneous healing, but they still need to change their eating behaviors to stay healthy after God heals them.

Eating Habits to Help Lower Blood Pressure

The American Dietetic Association (ADA) has offered some guidelines for eating to reduce your risk of high blood pressure. The goal of their program is to introduce certain things into your diet and reduce or eliminate other things. Introducing low-fat dairy foods, fruits, and vegetables into your diet may help reduce the risk of high blood pressure. The ADA plan is called DASH, which stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension. For the most part, the plan adds foods to your diet rather than taking them away.

The DASH eating plan was designed for those with high blood pressure, but it is also a heart-healthy plan for those who don't yet have hypertension. High blood pressure, or hypertension, is one of the leading causes of stroke, heart disease, kidney failure, and premature death in western countries. However many who suffer from high blood pressure do not realize they have it until it has killed them or caused a life threatening attack. So the AMA recommends that people have their blood pressure monitored on a somewhat regular basis.

Here is the plan. It is easy to find the ingredients at your local grocery store and it is not that difficult to introduce it into your diet gradually over a period of time:

Please note that the above guidelines are for a 2,000 calorie a day diet. Many people eat less than 2,000 calories. Those people will have to adjust (reduce) the portions or number of servings accordingly.

In addition to these daily intakes of food, the ADA recommends that you stop smoking, limit alcohol intake, and maintain adequate Calcium, Magnesium, and Potassium intakes for general health. They emphasize that it is very important to cut down on the amount of fat you eat. They also recommend that you lose weight if you are overweight and that you increase your daily physical activity level. Healthy exercise also helps to reduce blood pressure aerobic exercise strengthens your heart and circulatory system.

The ADA offers a few suggestions to help you get started on this diet to reduce the risk of hypertension. These are from their www site, which is http://www.eatright.org/, and they include:

Butter Vs Margarine In Controlling Blood Pressure

A group of dietitians, working for the Slim-Fast Corporation, has put an advisory that margarine and butter are not equivalents. It turns out that butter is worse for you than margarine in terms of raising cholesterol levels, which in turns raises your blood pressure. There are different types of fats. Trans fats is the worst for you in terms of hardening of the arteries and elevating blood pressure, but saturated fats are nearly as bad. Even though some brands of margarine contain more trans fat than butter, the total of trans + saturated fat (the LDL Cholesterol raising fats) in margarine is always less than it is in butter. This is because of all the saturated fat that butter contains. Here is a comparison between butter and margarine for fats:

Butter*
Total Fat - 10.8
Saturated Fat - 7.2
Trans Fat - 0.3
Saturated and Trans Fats - 7.5
Margarine, tub (40% Fat)**
Total Fat - 5.6
Saturated Fat - 1.1
Trans Fat - 0.6
Saturated and Trans Fats - 1.7
*Butter values from FDA Table of Trans Values, dated 1/30/95.
**values from USDA Composition Data, 1995. http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/qatrans.html

It is usually better to choose the softer (tub) or liquid (spray) margarine that contains lower amounts of saturated and trans fats. There are a variety of them on the market at this time that do not contain any trans fats (e.g., partially hydrogenated vegetable oils), and they state this information right on the label. Also, nonstick cooking spray may be substituted for other fats when 'greasing' the pan.

If you eat margarine instead of butter, the average person will save a minimum of 1196 grams of saturated fat per year (and could save even more by selecting a reduced-fat or low-fat margarine product). Margarine has no cholesterol and anywhere from 33 to 100 percent less saturated fat than butter. It is a healthier choice for controlling your blood pressure and heart related problems.


Fats and Oils and High Cholesterol

One of the biggest health problems facing those in western societies is high blood cholesterol and heart problems. Much of these problems are diet induced. So if we pray for someone to be healed of high cholesterol and heart problems, we also need to educate them on how to eat so that they don't cause the problems to recur. For instance, hardening of the arteries is one of the things that causes high blood pressure. Your arteries become clogged with cholesterol deposits in a similar manner to how rust can close the flow of water in pipes. Then your heart has to work harder to pump the blood through your system.

God can miraculously heal people from hardening of the arteries and related heart problems. He can remove the build-up of low density lipoprotein (e.g, bad cholesterol) that lines the arteries. This is something that doctors and chemists can measure and verify -- they can sample levels of cholesterol and LDL in your blood stream. We can document a supernatural healing in this area.

But, in order to "keep our healing," we need to change the bad habits that gave us the condition in the first place. If we don't change our eating habits, the LDL will begin to build up in our arteries again and we will once again have the same condition. We need to cooperate with the Holy Spirit in our healing by being good stewards of our bodies, the temple of the Holy Spirit.

This lesson examines how our eating choices effect the body's cholesterol levels and cause related circulatory and heart problems. It offers some suggestions for how to take better care of our bodies in this area. If you pray for someone who is healed of high cholesterol, hardening of the arteries or heart problems, you should do post-prayer counseling to advise them to change their eating habits so they don't get the same problem again a few years later down the road.

Fats, Oils and Cholesterol

Our bodies naturally produce cholesterol because our body needs it to survive -- in the right quantities. We need cholesterol to make the male and female hormones (estrogen and testosterone), as well as bile (which we need to digest food). However, we ingest cholesterol from our foods (animal and fatty products) in addition to what our bodies produce. In other words, animals produce cholesterol just like we do. And when we eat them, we get their cholesterol as well as the stuff our own body makes. The following foods all have noticeable levels of cholesterol in them: egg yolks, organ meats, fatty meats and full fat dairy products. And we tend to introduce a lot of fats into our baked goods and chocolate candies as well.

If we get too much cholesterol, it can cause heart disease. When the level of cholesterol in the blood is too high, cholesterol and other fats can stick to the artery walls and restrict the flow of blood through our system, making the heart work harder to circulate the nutrients and oxygen to the various parts of our body that need it.

Cholesterol is waxy and cannot dissolve in water. So it is carried through the blood in packages called lipoproteins. High density lipoprotein (HDL) is a "good" package for cholesterol. HDL cholesterol gathers up excess cholesterol in the blood and carries it to the liver. The liver reprocesses or excretes it. HDL may also help remove some of the cholesterol deposited on the artery walls.

Low density lipoprotein (LDL) is a "bad" package for cholesterol. Excess LDL cholesterol can increase the risk of heart disease because it is LDL cholesterol that builds up on the artery walls.

The type of fats and oils we eat helps control LDL levels. There are 4 different types of fats and oils:

The American Dietary Association (ADA) recommends that we consume no more than 30 percent of total calories from fat. The "30 percent" guideline means: 7-10 percent of total calories from saturated fats, about 10 - 15 percent of total calories from monounsaturated fats, and about 10 percent from polyunsaturated fats.

If you are a calorie counter, then realize that each gram of fat contains 9 calories, while each gram of carbohydrates or protein contains only 4 calories. So if you intake 1500 calories a day, you are to consume no more than 450 calories from fats, which is 50 grams of fat per day max. That leaves you with about 262 grams of protein and carbohydrates a day. Some people might think that a ratio of 30% fat means that 1/3 of what we can consume per day can be fat. But that is not the case because fat has more than twice as many calories per gram than other foods. Your total fat intake is to be only 16% of your total food intake. And that includes the fats in baked products such as breads and cakes as well as the fat in dairy products. So be very moderate with your free fat intake ... butters and spreads, sour creams, salad dressings, etc. Try to find low-fat and non-fat substitutes when possible.

The ADA recommends you eat 5 or more servings of fruits and vegetables each day. Base your meals on whole grains, beans, and legumes, or a 4-ounce portion of lean meat or poultry without the skin, and 2-3 servings of low-fat or fat-free dairy products each day. Limit your intake of sweets, and other high-fat foods -- and choose the type of fats and oils you eat carefully.


Healing, Health and Vitamins

I had an interesting experience recently with my vision. When I was young, my vision was 20-20. Over time, it has begun to deteriorate. It got so bad that I had to get a large print bible. I could not read a regular print bible (which has smaller print than most books) and I definitely could not read the small print in the references and study notes. I also noticed that my vision was much worse at night than during the day. I could read some labels if I were under a bright light, but could not read them under a dim light. I was resisting getting glasses and asking God to heal my vision. I went to a conference where the leaders of a healing room in Santa Maria were speaking/teaching on how to set up and run healing rooms.

In the process of the meetings, a group from my church ended up chatting with the person who heads the healing room. Everyone in the group had vision problems and he prayed for all of us. I noticed an immediate improvement.. I could read the red print in my bible (the words of Christ) where I could not read them before prayer. But the smaller print for cross-references and footnotes was definitely unreadable. I struggled for a season to read the regular bible and finally gave up and went to a large-print bible.

About 2 months later, I was at a sporting event and they had this booth that gave free eye tests. I had my eyes tested and to my surprise my vision was 20-30, which is very good for someone in their 40s. So I pulled out my old regular print study bible and found that I could once again read the footnotes and cross references! God had done a significant healing in my vision.

But I found that I still saw much better in bright light than in dim light. I began seeking God to heal my night vision. He told me that I did not need a healing in my night vision, that something else was going on. I did not believe Him and I kept bugging Him to heal my night vision. He just seemed to ignore me for a season. Then, as I was doing research on the internet to write this section on vitamins, a fact about vitamin A jumped out at me. One of the things vitamin A does is "retinal function in dim light only." And I looked at the list of foods that are rich in vitamin A and realized they were pretty much all missing from my diet. The night blindness was not a problem that needed physical healing, it was a vitamin A deficiency. Then I looked at the other things that vitamin A does and I realized that I was weaker in those areas as well. All this time I was seeking God for a physical healing when I was not "sick." What God wanted me to do was to change my diet to correct the vitamin A deficiency.

Since the Lord just showed this to me as I was preparing this lesson, I can not give you a progress report on this yet.. it will take some time to correct the vitamin deficiency. But I am pretty confident that my night vision will improve as I change my eating habits.

Sometimes we seek God for supernatural healing of conditions that are caused by vitamin deficiencies. We don't need healing, we need to change our eating behaviors to correct the problem. So let's look at the various vitamins, what they do for our bodies and what types of foods provide them.

Vitamins And Why We Need Them

The body needs vitamins and minerals to perform it's various functions, but it only needs them in small quantities. Many nutritionalists feel that a healthy balanced diet will provide a person with their daily vitamin needs. If you overdose on the water soluble vitamins by taking vitamin supplements, they simply pass out of your system. However, you need to be careful not to overdose on the fat-soluble vitamins because your body has a harder time eliminating these. You must be careful not to overdose on the fat-soluble vitamin by taking supplements in too large of a quantity, because these build up in the body and can become hazardous to your health.

FAT-SOLUBLE VITAMINS

Fat-soluble vitamins include A, D, E and K. The body needs each of these or different reasons. It needs vitamin A for night vision and healthy skin. Vitamin D helps to maintain our bone density because it allows us to absorb the calcium we need for healthy bones. Vitamin E is important in having healthy skin and it is helpful in preventing scars, as well as keeping our red blood cells healthy. Vitamin K helps our blood to clot properly. In addition to their other roles, vitamins E and beta-carotene (used to synthesize vitamin A), are "antioxidants." There is a lot of controversy about taking antioxidants as supplements. Some nutritionalists feel they have positive benefits and others feel they can be hurtful. But one thing the nutritionalists pretty much agree on is that taking vitamins E and carotene in their natural form (fresh fruits and vegetables) provides the body with antioxidants and helps protect against cancer and heart disease.

Let's look at each one of the four fat-soluble vitamins a little more detail.

Our bodies need vitamin A for the overall health of our eyes and it also helps maintain good night vision (e.g., retinal function in dim light only). It is also used by the immune system and in mucus membranes. In addition, it aids in healthy skin (repair of damages and growth of new tissue). We do not find vitamin A in many foods. Fortunately, there are foods that contain a lot of carotene, and our intestines can turn carotene into vitamin A. Carotene rich foods include carrots, sweet potatoes, tomatoes and cantaloupe and other orange, red or yellow fruits and vegetables. We also find carotene in spinach and broccoli.

Our bodies use vitamin D to absorb calcium and phosphorus, which allow us to grow healthy teeth, bones and nails. Our bodies produce vitamin D when our skin is exposed to sunlight. So, believe it or not, sunlight is a good source of vitamin D. We can also get vitamin D from most milk and milk products.

Our bodies use vitamin E (tocopherol) for healthy cells, especially in our skin. It is also used to help prevent scaring from cuts, burns, etc. Some people claim it helps reduce/remove stretch marks when applied topically to them. It also helps keep our red blood cells healthy. We find vitamin E in vegetable oils, margarine, eggs, fish, whole-grain cereals, and dried beans.

Our bodies need vitamin K to help our blood clot, so we don't bleed to death when we are scratched or cut. Also many poisons for rodents work by trying to destroy the proteins our body needs to make the blood clot, so when a child or pet is exposed to a small rodent poison, the treatment is usually mega doses of vitamin K. Our digestive system naturally produce some vitamin K. We also find it in leafy green vegetables and cereals.

WATER-SOLUBLE VITAMINS

Water-soluble vitamins include the B complex vitamins (thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B6, folic acid, vitamin B12, pantothenic acid, biotin) and vitamin C. Most of these help the body create and regulate enzymes in the body for things like digestion.

The body needs vitamin B1 (Thiamin) for the heart, nerves, muscle tissue and digestive track. It helps us metabolize carbohydrates and produce the energy our body needs to function. You can find vitamin B1 in lean meat, nuts, legumes and also in enriched and fortified cereals and baked goods.

The body uses vitamin B2 (Riboflavin) for the immune system as well as to keep our skin healthy and to produce energy. You can find vitamin B2 in lean meat, eggs, low-fat and fat-free dairy products, green leafy vegetables and in enriched and fortified cereals.

The body needs vitamin B3 (Niacin) the digestive system and for healthy skin. Niacin can be produced from an amino acid named trytopham. In addition you can find vitamin B3 in nuts and legumes, in pork, veal, tuna, halibut, and poultry, and in yeast, baked goods, coffee and tea.

Our bodies need vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine) for our immune systems, to create the red blood cells that carry oxygen to the various parts of the body. We also need it for our nervous system and for hormone function. We find B6 in lean beef, tuna, halibut, legumes, and leafy green vegetables. We also find it in some enriched and fortified cereals and baked goods.

Our bodies use vitamin B12 for red blood cell production, utilization of folic acid, nervous system function and to help produce energy. We find it in lean meat, poultry, fish, eggs, low-fat dairy products.

Our bodies use folic acid for growth and a lack of it in pregnant mothers can lead to birth defects. It is also needed for the body to make red blood cells and for energy production. We find it in lean meat, fish, legumes, nuts, leafy green vegetables, and in whole grains.

Pantothenic acid is essential for a correctly functioning metabolism. We find it in lean meat, fish, poultry, legumes, and whole-grain cereals.

Biotin allows our bodies to synthesize fatty acids and to correctly digest protein. It helps in converting meats to energy. It is wide spread in the food supply and we find high concentrations of it in egg yokes, liver, mushrooms, peanuts, yeast, milk, meat and in many vegetables.

Vitamin C (Ascorbic acid) does more than help prevent colds. It is essential for our growth and bone and teeth formation. It helps us to absorb iron properly. It also helps our bodies to heal it's wounds and it also helps our bodies to resist disease and infection. It is fairly wide spread, but some of the best sources include: citrus fruits, berries, leafy green vegetables, tomatoes, potatoes, sweet peppers and hot peppers.


Minerals and Health/Healing

Have you ever had someone come to you who was just low in energy and who always seemed to be worn out? You pray for them and they get better for a short season, then they go back to being worn out again? It may be that the problem is diet induced (such as lack of a vitamin or mineral). And even if God heals the deficiency by increasing the levels of that vitamin or mineral in their blood, that over time their lifestyle will cause it to become deficient again and the symptoms will return.

One of the more common examples of this is the chronic exhaustion that is caused by anemia -- it leaves people weak and tried. Anemia is caused by iron deficiencies and the medical "treatment" is to take iron supplements. This is something easily controlled by diet (mostly green leafy vegetables and iron supplements). So when a person comes to you for prayer about low energy, you might ask them if they are an avid coffee drinker... because there is something about coffee that decreases our ability to absorb iron. Avid coffee drinkers often need to take iron supplements. Anemia is also common in women who are still menstruating, especially just after their "time of the month." It is true that you can pray for God to cure anemia, and He might just do that. But the condition will come back again soon if the person does not make some changes to their eating habits.

Other types of mineral deficiencies can cause low energy, exhaustion and lack of "get up and go" as well. Many of the minerals help us to convert food into energy, such as chromium, copper, iodine, magnesium, manganese and phosphorus. If the person's eating habits are deficient in one of these areas, then chances are very high that the weakness, exhaustion, etc will return gradually over a period of time because their diet is causing the problem. So after you pray for them and God heals them, you should do brief post-healing counseling should be to advise them to get an adequate supply of vitamins and minerals.

The average person knows very little about vitamins and even less about minerals. Both vitamins and minerals are critical to our health. Our bodies require minerals to carry out vital body functions like healthy nerve function and the formation of bones and teeth. They are also used to produce enzymes and they are a vital part of the body's fluid systems. Living things (plants and animals) do not produce minerals -- they are found in soil, water, rocks and metals. Minerals fall into two categories, based on how much of them our bodies require:

The body can't produce minerals itself, but we do find minerals in a large variety of fruits, vegetables, beans and grains. The plants do not produce these minerals, but they do absorb them from the soil.

Minerals are a bit controversial and nutritionalists do not seem to be in agreement about them. Some nutritionalists recommend taking minerals in large quantities because they believe they add special health benefits. However, there is no solid research to back that claim. Other nutritionalists warn that overdosing on some minerals may be detrimental to your health. Too much zinc can interfere with the absorption of calcium, and too much iron can interfere with the absorption of zinc.

Here is a brief description of what each mineral does for your body and of what types of foods contain that mineral.

CALCIUM

The body needs calcium to maintain healthy bones, teeth, nails, and muscle tissue. Calcium also assists in blood clotting and heart and nerve functions. It is critical when the body needs to heal. The recommended calcium intake is higher for children, adolescents, young women and pregnant and lactating women. Benefits include relief from muscle spasms, menstrual cramps, insomnia, and "growing pains." Calcium promotes healthy teeth and bones. It prevents rickets and it regulates the cardiovascular system and helps to regulate our heart beat. Calcium is found in low-fat dairy products such as skim milk and yogurt and eggs. It is also found in nuts including peanuts, walnuts, sunflower seeds and soy beans. It is also found in green leafy vegetables and in broccoli, salmon and sardines with bones.

CHLORIDE

Chloride in the diet works with potassium and sodium, the two electrolytes, to control the flow of fluid in blood vessels and tissues. It also helps regulate the body's level of acidity. It is used to create hydrochloric acid in the stomach to digest food. Chloride is found in table salt as well as kelp, olives, tomatoes, and celery.

CHROMIUM

Our body needs chromium to convert glucose (sugars) into energy. It also plays a major role in our overall health. It is involved in the prevention of high blood pressure and diabetes, it deters arteriosclerosis and it helps in growth. It is found in shellfish, chicken, yeast, lean meat, clams, nuts, cheeses and unrefined grains.

COBALT

Benefits of cobalt include prevention of anemia because it helps to build red blood cells. Natural sources are found in meat, kidney, clams, milk, oysters, and liver.

COPPER

Our bodies need copper for enzyme reactions and metabolizing iron. It helps our body maintain high energy levels and helps us properly ingest vitamin C. It is almost impossible to find non-prescription copper supplements because it is dangerous to overdose on copper. That can cause insomnia, irregular menstrual periods, hair loss, and depression. Copper can be found in whole wheat, prunes, seafood, liver, legumes (dried beans and peas), grains, nuts, seeds and hard water.

FLUORIDE

The body needs fluoride for healthy bones and teeth that are resistant to decay. It can be found in seafood and tea, egg whites, gelatin, seafoods, radishes, cabbage, whole wheat, garlic, lettuce and beets.

IODINE

Our bodies need iodine for regulation of body temperature, thyroid hormone synthesis, metabolic rate, reproduction, growth and nerve and muscle function. Benefits include promotion of healthy hair, teeth, skin, nails, and lymphatic system, particularly healthy tonsils. Iodine enhances mental alertness and efficient thinking; helps burn excess fat; energy booster; encourages growth; prevents hypothyroidism and goiter. Iodine is found in vegetables, seafood, kelp and iodized salt.

IRON

Our bodies need iron to make healthy red blood cells and deficiency of iron will lead to anemia. We need the red blood cells for our blood to carry oxygen to all of the cells in our body. Benefits of iron include prevention of fatigue and anemia; builds a healthy skin tone and resistance to disease. Avid coffee drinkers tend to deplete their iron supply and need to take iron supplements. The same is true for menstruating women. You can find iron in lean red meats, shellfish, legumes, dried fruit, green leafy vegetables. There are also many over the counter iron supplements. However, if you take iron supplements, be careful. Iron is toxic (it can hurt your health) if taken in too large of quantities.

MAGNESIUM

Magnesium helps the body use calcium and vitamin C, as well as convert blood sugar to usable energy. Magnesium is good to take directly after a meal since it neutralizes stomach acids. Benefits include prevention of heart attack, calcium deposits, kidney stones, and gall stones. Magnesium also helps with indigestion and depression, and it works in helping our muscles to relax. It is found in yellow corn, apples, seeds, nuts, figs, dark green vegetables, lemons, and grapefruit.

MANGANESE

Manganese intake is useful for avid meat eaters and milk drinkers. Manganese is essential for the digestion and metabolism of food. Benefits include improving memory and reflexes; eradicates fatigue; calms nerves and reduces irritability. It promotes proper development of thyroid hormones, skeletal, reproductive , and central nervous systems. You can find manganese in whole-grain cereals, egg yolks, beets, vegetables, nuts, leafy green vegetables, and peas.

MOLYBDENUM

Molybdenum is a big contributor to iron usage in the body, as well as helping convert food into useful energy. It helps to prevent anemia. You can find molybdenum in dark leafy green veggies, beans, peas, nuts, and whole grains.

PHOSPHORUS

Our bodies need phosphorus to grow, to maintain our bone density and to convert food into energy. It also helps to regulate the blood chemistry. Benefits include prevention of rickets and pyorrhea, and it reduces arthritis pain and strengthens bones and teeth. Phosphorus also helps to regulate heart beat and kidney function. You can find phosphorus in lean meat, fish, poultry, low-fat dairy products, eggs, nuts, seeds, and whole grains.

POTASSIUM

Our bodies need potassium to maintain a normal heart rhythm, to help prevent muscle cramping and to regulate/balance body fluids. Potassium also helps to lower blood pressure, helps slow the aging process and promotes clear thinking. Certain conditions or life-styles can cause your body to require higher levels of potassium: high salt users, those with hypoglycemia, high stress, or those doing long periods of fasting/dieting. Potassium can be found in bananas, citrus fruits, potatoes, sunflower seeds, leafy green vegetables, mint leaves, legumes, low fat milk.

SELENIUM

Selenium works best when it's combined with vitamin E. It is used to help prevent heart disease and dandruff. It slows the aging process by helping tissues remain elastic. Some nutritionalists believe it protects from some cancers and fights toxic metals in the environment. It can be found in bran, wheat germ, tuna and seafood, broccoli and onions.

SODIUM

Many westerners tend to overdose on sodium. It is found in table salt (sodium chloride) which many people use in excess. Our bodies use sodium to regulate body fluids and maintain our acid-base in the blood chemistry. It also assists in nerve transmission and muscle contraction. Sodium also helps us to metabolize carbohydrates. It can be helpful in the prevention of sunstroke and heat prostration. It is found in most foods because most foods have salt added to them. It is natural to beets, artichokes, and carrots.

SULFUR

Our bodies use sulfur to produce healthy nails, skin and hair. It also aids in oxygen balance for the brain, assists the liver to secrete bile, and fights bacterial infections. We can find sulfur in eggs, dried beans, beef, fish, and cabbage.

ZINC

Zinc as a supplement should be taken with vitamin A, and it is recommended for alcoholics and diabetics. Our bodies use zinc to help prevent prostrate problems in men and regulates menstrual periods in women. Our bodies also use zinc for healthy skin and prevention of adult acne and hair loss. Zinc also helps with infertility, wound healing and creating insulin. It also serves a function in the senses of taste and smell. Some nutritionalists believe that zinc helps to reduce the level of cholesterol in our blood. Foods that contain zinc include: eggs, ground mustard, pumpkin seeds, yeast, wheat germ fish, and nonfat dry milk.

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